The war games have begun.
The situation seems to have been caused by Mugenri's residents falling under a certain "illness",
but just what is the true nature of that illness?
Are they just really drunk?
Well, someone will probably spell things out soon.
The land has a lot of curious people in it, after all.

It's a super looong embankment in the Gloomy Straits.
There, a bridge every bit as looong in both length
and width is undergoing construction.
In this game, the Gloomy Straits are another key part of the story!

I casually and uncharacteristically
put some sound effects in this track.

Most people didn't guess that the capital
would be such a metropolis, did they?

I assure you, there is a reason why the capital is shrouded in a red haze!
Basically, when the capital is in a state of emergency,
colored mists hang over it through the power of the stage 4 boss.
Visually, this makes things easy to understand.

The red mist means that going outside is forbidden, which is accompanied by a state of martial law.
It was released because enemy forces entered the capital.

It's... such a tall pagoda! It reaches even higher than the clouds!
Though it's hard to climb pagodas by passing through the inside, it's easy to get to the top if you're flying outside.
Perhaps the architect had such cunning people in mind,
because unless you climb it from the inside (in the true sense of the word), you won't be able to reach the Heavenly Emperor's tomb.
That's how it was constructed.

But whether you climb it with your true strength or cheat your way up there, the landscape you can see from the top is the same, isn't it?
How cynical.

Ukifune's Room, last stage theme

影の頂 ～ Haze Castle

The Crown of Shadows ~ Haze Castle

城ルートの最終ステージの曲です。

妖しい城の城内の妖しい道を超えた先には妖しい空間。

明らかになにか秘密がありそうな城だけど、
ストーリー内ではほとんど明らかになってないのよね。

けどひとつだけハッキリしてるのは、
すごく座り心地が悪そうな椅子だってこと

Stage 6 theme (Castle route).

After passing through a suspicious path inside the suspicious castle,
you end up in a suspicious room.

Though it's clear that the castle is hiding some secrets,
not much is made clear about these secrets throughout the story...

But there's one thing I'm going to make clear:
Those seats look really uncomfortable to sit in.

Senri Shrine Road theme (stage 4-6).
It originally played from Stage 4 onward,
but for the demo version I had it play on Stage 3.
If you're just going straight forward, you'd get bored of the same old song, right?

Extra stage theme

進まねばならぬ道

The Road That Must Be Walked

ＥＸステージの道中曲です。

ストーリーモードをクリアしたばかりの人は
色々とモヤモヤしながらこのＥＸステージを
プレイしてることだと思います。

それでもプレイを続けるのです、さぁ
未知なる恐怖を求めて
既知なるスリルを求めて
進まねばならぬのです

それにしても闡裡神社の参道ってなっがいねー

Extra stage theme.

I think people who've just completed the story mode
will play through the extra stage
feeling a bit doubtful.

Even so, continue playing!
You must walk down this road
in search of unknown terrors
and well-known thrills.

Mitsumo's theme (stage 1 boss [Brilliant]).
I composed this theme in one shot, with only momentum to go on.

It gets full marks for ominousness, but only half the marks for cuteness.
It doesn't seem much like a stage 1 boss theme, but they are seriously bad news, after all.
This theme fits them quite well, maybe.

Kurohebi's theme (stage 1 boss [Neutral]).
A slightly arranged version of a theme from my first game.
They're a total underdog, as usual.
Their time to shine still hasn't come.
Their lack of presence is surely the fault of their ability.

It's that kind of theme. (Small and average)

Come to think of it, they're a snake too, but they've got no connection to our other snake friends.

As before, they're not very dignified compared to their theme. Despite being a veteran, too.

Besides this one, most of the remixed themess here hardly deviate
from the original themes either. I didn't intend for them to, after all.
The reason for this is because I don't do very good arrangements.
Also because it'd be a pain.

Aoji's theme (stage 2 boss [Neutral]).
A slight arrangement of a theme from my first game.
It was only two years ago, but it's still so nostalgic...

Aoji's theme gives off the feeling that they've finally used to this world (doesn't it?).
They're only a stage 2 boss, but they're actually super powerful in practice.
Well, they're also powerful in the game too.

I only used the upbeat parts of a theme that was already quite upbeat,
so it ended up becoming an unthinkably upbeat theme.
Well, they went from riding horseback (on a cow) to a rocket, so I guess that's to be expected?[b]

They were on an eggplant last time, and they're on a pumpkin this time.
Assuming there's a next time, I wonder what I should make them ride...?

You can really hear Garaiya's fierce heroic desires and hero worship in this theme,
which contrasts with their normally humble tone of voice and bearing.
Their theme has a great feel to it, and I like it a lot.

They don't really have the power to be a stage 4 boss, but, well...
lots of things happened and they ended up there.

It's the sort of theme that, midway through, feels like a pro wrestler has entered the scene.

Their body was formerly a homunculus, and their soul is currently a homunculus,
so I wanted to express their biotechnological nature through this theme.
I had the same experience with a certain other candidate seeking the position of the new Emperor.

Well, Para's theme contains some phrases that are identical
to that certain other candidate's theme...
It also has some other somewhat nostalgic phrases in it, too.

Para's knowledge is slowly slipping away, and they've continued to become more distrusting of humans.
They have a bad mouth and a bad attitude.

To be honest, up until now, I've done my best to avoid overusing Japanese instruments.
I felt that if I overused them, the themes I compose would end up becoming extremely Japanese in style,
constricting my expressive freedom.
However, I decided to use some Japanese instruments for a change of pace, and it was so much fun!
I composed this theme whilst riding that mood, and it ended up becoming something from another dimension! Or something like that.
I also wanted to play the shamisen for the first time in a while. Well, I'm pretty bad at it...

When it comes to fast pieces, if you don't increase the amount of melodic material you use, it's really hard to make them longer.
It's a challenge. When you add to that the long time you spend fighting stage 6 bosses...
I had a tough time until I thought up the melody,
but once I decided on my plan of attack, I was able to finish the theme without stopping.

This theme gives off the impression of piercing through the selfishness of children who are immune to common sense.
I had the same thought when I was composing Yabusame's theme last time, but this theme doesn't sound like the theme of a protagonist at all.
It's the same for the other protagonist as well, though...

This is a mysterious theme, one in which eeriness and childishness coexist.
Perhaps those traits make it resemble Yabusame...

Although it's a theme I tried cramming lots of new ideas into,
it took me an unexpectedly short time to compose.
It always seems stuff gets done faster if you're screwing around,
but that in itself is pretty messed-up, huh?

Suzumi can change history itself if they put their mind to it.
They've been one to seriously plague Yabusame and Tsubakura in the past.
But really, what kind of mess are they making in Mugenri?

Conveying that this theme is a "forgery" rather than an "arrangement" made me rack my brain.
As a result,
I tried to make this theme embody the idea of
"a character copying someone else's melody into their own theme".
However, though they were able to incorporate Tsurubami's melody into their own theme,
they couldn't pull off an exact forgery,
and ended up returning to their own theme.
That's the sort of piece of music I had in mind.
It feels like it resembles another character's theme, but it doesn't.

I was able to express the idea of this character well, so I'm pleased with this theme.

At any rate, this is an ominous theme,
but it would have been easy to compose if it was just ominous and scary.
Incorporating a sense of coolness as well as a sense of Suzumi's backstory on top of all of that
was quite the challenge.

The danmaku used by Suzumi includes a lot of strange elements, so you'll be confused to begin with.
Still, I constructed their danmaku so that once you understand the theory behind it, you'll know how to dodge it.
To think that such danmaku can express Suzumi's abilities...
well, I had that in mind from the beginning. Totally.